Conventional contraceptive strategies generally fall within three categories: physical barriers, drugs and surgery. While each have certain advantages, they also suffer from various drawbacks. Barriers such as condoms and diaphragms are subject to failure due to breakage, displacement and misuse. Drug strategies, such as the pill and Norplant™, which rely on artificially controlling hormone levels, suffer from known and unknown side-effects from prolonged use. Finally, surgical procedures, such as tubal ligation and vasectomy, involve the costs and attendant risks of surgery, and are frequently not reversible.
In response to the aforementioned difficulties and inefficiencies of conventional contraceptive strategies, the Ovion Eclipse permanent sterilization product was developed and is expected to be available in 2008 from American Medical Systems of Minnetonka, Minn. Fundamental aspects of the Eclipse product are described within U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,096,052 and 6,432,116, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Generally, the Eclipse product comprises a mesh member that is transversely disposed within the fallopian tube using a suitable delivery system such as, for example, a delivery catheter or a conventional balloon catheter. Once positioned within the fallopian tube, the mesh member is permeable to allow for tissue ingrowth, or epithelialization, such that after a period of time, a tissue impregnated mesh member eventually fully occludes the fallopian tube. Through the minimally invasive nature of the Eclipse product, implantation of the device can be accomplished in a single office visit with little or no discomfort.
While the Eclipse product provides an effective and permanent method of contraception, there exists circumstances in which a patient may wish to reverse the procedure and conceive a child. While the prior patents disclose the use of conventional atherectomy devices, lasers, balloon catheters and plugs secured to the mesh member, there remains the opportunity to further improve upon the ability to reverse the contraceptive effects of the Eclipse device.